A Fond Farewell: Celebrating a Remarkable Journey

July 7 was the end of an era at Associated Ministries as we said goodbye that day to our Chief Operating Officer, Molly Archer, who retired after more than 14 years of service to AM and to our community.

Molly came to AM around the time we began significant work partnering with Pierce County to manage key aspects of our community’s homeless response system. This new work required AM to become much more sophisticated in our approach to budgeting and fiscal management, and Molly brought just the right expertise to enable our work to flourish.

In addition to managing complex contracts, the AM staff grew considerably in those years, requiring Molly’s adept oversight of our HR, IT and facilities needs as well. Molly provided a steady hand of leadership over our “core services” areas during her 14 years of service. Among her key “passion projects” was her commitment to guide the organization into embracing effective equity and diversity practices.

During much of 2015 Molly ably served as acting Executive Director of Associated Ministries, in the transition to Michael Yoder’s appointment as AM’s 4th ED in August of that year.

Molly’s professional background included time as a CPA with a large West Coast accounting firm, followed by years of finance and administrative leadership roles at nonprofit organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest.

In retirement Molly is looking forward to having more time for camping and adventures with her husband and family, especially with her granddaughter!

AM Executive Director Michael Yoder shared, “It has been a joy and privilege to lead AM alongside Molly during the last decade. Molly’s wisdom and grace made me a better leader and a better person. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to serve our community together during our time in leadership at AM. Her impact on us all will be felt for years to come.”